Self love is a concept, but it’s also a journey with plenty of ups and downs. The world might not always tell you to love yourself, but self love is one of the most important things you can do to stay strong in who you are. No matter your imperfections, anxieties or struggles, self care and self love are for everyone, and that includes you. And one of the many beauties of self love is that there are so many ways you can practice it.
No matter what your style of love and communication is, you can practice it with yourself and give yourself the love and care you deserve. Sometimes, loving yourself isn’t about simply loving everything automatically, but engaging in the practices that facilitate love within yourself. If you want to show yourself a bit of extra affection, here are nine tips that can help you love yourself, no matter what.
-
Use Positive Affirmations
If you tend to be a person who responds well to words and verbalization, saying positive things to — and about — yourself daily can bring out the best in you. Looking in the mirror and saying uplifting words, journaling and making a habit of it every single day can truly put you in an uplifting place. Here are a few positive affirmations you can try:
- I am worthy
- I choose myself
- I am enough
- Positive thinking creates positive things
- I am beautiful
-
Do Kind Things for Yourself
If you tend to enjoy little treats and enjoy doing nice things for those in your life, why not make this next one about you? Doing something sweet for yourself because you deserve it can be more meaningful than you might think. Get yourself a latte or go for a walk somewhere you love, and remember you’re totally worth it.
-
Discover New Hobbies
Self love is often about encouraging yourself to have fun, and that’s what hobbies are all about. Discovering hobbies can be especially helpful for those tackling self love coming out of a relationship or unhealthy situation. Fill your time with something you enjoy! You could probably use some calm you time.
-
Eat a Healthy Diet
While self love is about nourishing yourself with the things you want, it’s also about nourishing yourself with the things you need. When you eat healthy food and fuel your body with energy, vitamins and nutrients, your mood and self image can improve along with your diet. While you don’t need to banish ice cream and chips for the rest of your life, creating a balanced will probably serve you well.
-
Find Exercise You Love
Along with what you put into your body, how you move it matters too. When you take the time out of your day to focus on making your body feel good, you not only get to feel better physically, but you remind yourself that you deserve time for you. When you find a routine that actually makes you feel happy and comfortable, the rest will be easy as pie.
-
Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff
Stress can be a serious culprit for unnecessary worry, sadness and forgetting to love and care for yourself. While everyone deals with stress from time to time and it’s not always possible to completely banish it from your life, getting worked up over small things can distract you from the bigger picture and slow your productivity in caring for yourself. If possible, try to stay relaxed.
-
Spend Time With Friends
Another effective way to love yourself is to spend time with those who love you and appreciate you for who you are. By spending time with friends and family who love you and see the good in you, uplifting feelings can easily arise and you can feel even more loving and happy towards yourself. Support systems are important. And while they can’t do all the work of providing the love you need, a little encouragement can always help.
-
Remember to Rest
Sometimes it can feel easy to work yourself too hard personally or professionally — or both — in order to prove your worth to yourself. But this doesn’t have to be the way it is. You are worthy no matter what — even if you take breaks and allow yourself to rest. In fact, doing so is crucial for your health.
-
Practice Mindfulness
Mindfulness is all about being present in the current moment and centering yourself in your surroundings. This can help you embrace positivity and see yourself for who you truly are. Mindfulness can help you realize how worthy of love you are, which can be pretty powerful for your self love journey.
You Deserve to Love Yourself Unconditionally
Self love is often more complicated than it seems, but it’s entirely worth it — and entirely possible. You deserve to love yourself no matter what. And through mindfulness, taking care of yourself and surrounding yourself with people who see your value, you can find your way there bravely.
